


The Definition of Monstrosity (Or How Harry Made Dumbledore Reassess his Beliefs)

by KaterineBlack



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aromantic Harry Potter, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Gen, HP Ace Fest 2020, Happens during Half Blood Prince, Harry Rants at Dumbledore, Love is not a universal experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24702940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaterineBlack/pseuds/KaterineBlack
Summary: Prompt 86 - Harry calls Dumbledore out on demonizing aro/ace people. "No one owes the world love, sir. Calling Voldemort a monster because he's aromantic is rude as hell. Call him a monster because he does monstrous things!"
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53
Collections: Harry Potter Ace Fest 2020





	The Definition of Monstrosity (Or How Harry Made Dumbledore Reassess his Beliefs)

**Author's Note:**

> The first four paragraphs of this were copied directly from my copy of Half Blood Prince, I do not own them, the rest is mine though the characters (obviously) are not

Harry sat in thought for a moment, then asked, “So if all of his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort _could_ be killed?”

“Yes, I think so,” said Dumbledore. “Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and magical power remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort, even without his Horcruxes.”

“But I haven’t got uncommon skill and power,” said Harry, before he could stop himself.

“Yes, you have,” said Dumbledore firmly. “You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can －”

“I know!” said Harry impatiently “I can love! But, Sir, why is the fact that Voldemort does not feel love such a big thing? No one owes the world love and not everyone feels the need for romantic love or any other kind of love. Love is _not_ something that is required for Human existence, nor is it something that is a universal experience. If you are going to call Voldemort a monster don’t do it because you think he doesn’t feel love. Call him monstrous because of the things he has done.” Harry paused to take a breath.

“I didn－” Dumbledore started but stopped making a sound, though his mouth continued to move for a few more words.

“It’s rude as _Hell_ , Sir, calling a way of being that’s different to your own monstrous, or are you calling me a monster as well, the few relationships I have had, I’ve started due to others expectations and not out of an actual want for any of them. You call love the most powerful magic that you know of but you only seem to think of it in term of lovers and family and you assume that families always love each other.” Harry stood from his chair and started to pace back and forth across the room.

“Tom Riddle did not grow up feeling love, I know what that’s like, it messes with how you relate to people. I’m not saying that our upbringing means we don’t love, I’m saying that those experiences make it harder. I have sat through these farces masquerading as lessons, as you have made claims over and over that he is loveless and friendless but none of the memories you have collected have actually shown that he is either of these things. As far as I can tell you have never actually talked to Voldemort or asked him what his goals are, you assume that he wants what his followers shout, many of whom I have heard referred to as crazy. You also claim that splitting his soul had no effect on Tom, but how then did his Diary, which you seemed to think was the first one he made, seem so much more sane than he did in my first year or anytime I’ve met him after that. And you know what?” Harry spun to face Dumbledore and looked him directly in the eye. “All I’ve really learnt from all these memories you have collected is that you villainized an orphan who had barely witnessed a kind word let alone love, made assumptions about him on the word of that matron and one ability. Sir, if you asked around my neighbours, let alone spoke to the Dursley’s, they would tell you very similar things, maybe even worse. I am called a delinquent, they say I go to St Brutus’ Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys, my first Hogwarts letter was addressed to the Cupboard under the Stairs. The Muggles have a saying, Sir, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, and I know there are multiple interpretations of it but the most common is that chosen family is a stronger tie than that created by blood.”

Harry moved towards the door, he turned before he left and said, more calmly “I’m going to leave now, Sir, and I don't think I want to come back to these lessons.”

As he went down the stairs away from the office it hit Harry that he had just yelled at Dumbledore, called him rude, and spoken more about what happened when he was away from Hogwarts than he ever had before. He knew Ron and Hermione were going to be waiting for him in the Gryffindor common room, they had done the same thing for every other meeting he had had with Dumbledore. Not wanting to face his friends he went passed the stairs to the tower and made his way to the seventh floor and quickly desired a place to process and as such appeared the Room of Requirement. Going through the new door he saw a simple bedroom with an additional door leading off the back wall, quickly opening it he saw an equally simple bathroom, though a nicer one than the ones in the Gryffindor dorms, including an actual bath. Returning to the main room Harry laid down on the bed and started running through the previous meetings he had had with Dumbledore, even recalling the only time they had really spoken the previous year. He noticed on recollection, that almost every time Dumbledore would say something about Riddle not having friends or allude to Riddle not being able to love. 

Harry knew that he had loved Sirius, he wasn’t sure exactly how, he didn’t really have anything he could compare it to and Sirius hadn’t behaved like a father did from what he could tell, nor like an older brother, maybe like an uncle but Harry always thought of Vernon when he thought of uncles and they were so different it was hard to think of them with the same word. But Harry did wonder how much his sorting had affected the similarities between himself and Riddle, it was the first major difference, though Riddle had obviously had more power to defend himself than Harry had. The dramatic difference in their sortings, even if the hat had wanted Harry for Slytherin, was a big turning point for both of them. Harry knew Ron wouldn’t have been his friend if he had been sorted into Slytherin and he doubted that Hermione would have either, she might not have even lived past their first year as he seemed to be the only one to notice her missing that Halloween. Harry knew that it was rare for muggleborn or muggle-raised students to be sorted to Slytherin and that it would have taken a lot for Riddle to be accepted with his muggle surname, even with his revered magical gift and it would have been even harder for Harry if he had let the hat have its way, even though he was from a pureblood family, his mother was a muggleborn, but he had defeated the most recent Dark Lord, whose followers children were mostly in Slytherin, and he had no knowledge of the magical world, hell even now five and a half years later he felt as though he had barely scratched the surface, especially of the politics and traditions which for some reason were not taught at Hogwarts. 

Eventually, the length of the day and the toll that letting his emotions out took on him overcame his racing brain and he fell asleep, his last thought that since he had come out to Dumbledore, even if unintentionally, he should talk to Ron and Hermione, and maybe Ginny about his disinterest in romantic relationships.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my super helpful beta K for looking over this


End file.
